Chapter Text
Vance overslept. Currently weaving his way through the crowds of Brooklyn Visions, he sends up a silent prayer that his Quantum Mechanics teacher, Ms Baker - a stern middle aged woman with a penchant for giving pop quizzes as class warm ups- got caught in the middle of the early morning traffic today because his attendance grade really could not take another missed quiz. And God knows the makeup quizzes are not only always at inconvenient hours, but also damn near impossible even for your average grad student. Isn’t the fact that they are taking and somewhat comprehending a quantum physics course in one of New York’s top private high schools good enough? Why make them jump through all these hoops just to keep their grades passing for crying out loud?
Vance checks his watch, 7:52 . Shit. The first bell’s already wrung, the late bell will be ringing in 3 minutes and he still has to make it up 2 flights and across the sky bridge before he’s even in the right building. He’s definitely screwed. He speeds up his pace, going from a light jog to a full on sprint. He quickly turns a corner, maybe he should go outside and cut across the courtyard- the thought is abruptly interrupted by him almost slamming right into another student. Vance manages to stop himself before he actually runs into them, but it works against his favor because he steps back, stumbles from the sudden change in motion, and in the next moment his head is very quickly about to become close friends with the questionably sticky vinyl floors of Brooklyn Visions Academy. Maybe, if he claims brain injury, he can get a pass on this one quiz and manage to maintain his steady B+ in the class. Alas, luck is not on his side for a second time today because he is quickly caught by two very firm hands and brought right side up in a matter of milliseconds. His head spins a bit. Brain injury could still be in the cards after all.
When his vision refocuses he realizes who has caught him and saved him from possible hospitalization. Miles Morales, the school's enigma, NYPD Captain’s genius son, and, as it turns out, Vance’s very good friend. “You good man?” Miles asks, brows furrowed in genuine worry. Vance is not good and is growing more aware of the fact that this whole interaction has taken up probably an entire minute so unless he suddenly gains the power of teleportation he is never going to make it to class before the late bell. Of course, he’s been sprinting through the school for a few minutes now so all he can get out between wheezes is, “Late,” wheeze “Baker,” wheeze “…. quiz .” But he knows Miles will understand because Miles also happens to be one of the only other five juniors in his Quantum Mechanics class.
Miles’ eyes widen in understanding before he relaxes and pats Vances shoulder in reassurance. “Yeah I was about to cut through the courtyard. Stairs are way too crowded right now.” Vance makes a mental note for future reference and nods, turning to get ready to run off in that direction before Miles strengthens his grip on his shoulder a bit and pulls him back. “Chill man, there’s not gonna be a quiz today.” He chuckles and looks at Vance with some amusement.
Vance gives him a confused look. “How can you be sure? Baker’s a stickler for time even on her nicest days.”
Miles just shakes his head and pulls out his phone, “Look, you know how she’s always pissed about having to take the subway at the crack of dawn to get here before ‘the crazies come out’ or whatever? Giant mutant insect clogged up the subway this morning. Nobody’s gonna be on time today, trust me.”
“Well how do you know she'll take the train? What if she takes the bus today?” Vance shoots back, though he’s already slowed his pace.
“Oh no she’ll have to take the bus. But so is everyone else in Brooklyn so unless she grew wings last night there’s no way she’s getting here on time.”
Vance nods. Okay, that makes sense
“Pluuuus she already sent out an email saying we should work on Unit 6 questions until she gets here,” Miles finishes with a sly grin.
This stops Vance dead in his tracks and he gives Miles an irritated look, “You didn’t want to start with that part, Morales?”
Miles openly laughs now, and Vance can just tell he’s been holding it back this whole time.
“You should have seen your face when you turned that corner man! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so stressed.” He doubles over in more laughter. They’re standing in the middle of the courtyard now and Vance can feel the chill of the early morning January seep into him through his winter uniform but the sound of his friends laughter, and the flush of embarrassment on his cheeks, manages to keep him warm enough to withstand it.
“Oh yeah real funny man, I should hit you.” He says, words out of place with the relieved grin on his face.
“Aw after I saved your life back there? Few seconds too late I’d have been picking bits o’ Vance off the floor.”
“And whose fault is it I was finna fall in the first place? Matter of fact come here for a sec’, lemme return the favor.”
“Oh you’ll have to catch me first!” And with that Miles takes off running, and Vance sprints, for the second time that morning, but this time in good spirits.
-
Vance had met Miles Morales about 2 weeks before his first day at Brooklyn Visions Academy. Like any freshman at their high school orientation, Vance was nervous to start the school year at a new school. Unlike any other freshman though, he was motivated. Visions wasn’t just any school, it was one of New York's most elite private schools - the creme de la creme of schools for parents who wanted their kids to be future Nobel and Pulitzer prize winners- and Vance was determined to be one of them. He had been groomed for academic excellence since he could remember- his parents sent him to the best prep elementary school, hired the best private home tutors, signed him up for academic summer camps- and if Vance was a typical kid he may have resented his parents for it. He may have wished for a childhood with a bit more freedom to do as he pleased, unbothered by academic pursuits. But Vance was not a typical kid. He didn’t dread the beast that was higher education; instead, he reveled in it. He had a thirst for knowledge and a passion for excellence. Perhaps it was in his blood- a son in a family with a long line of scholars, Vance Inglewood II was perhaps bred for excellent achievements.
His father, Richard Inglewood is an accomplished medical doctor who had 500 peer reviewed articles under his belt by the age of 30. Now, at 45, he sits on the board of several hospitals in the Northeast United States, two of them in New York alone. His mother, Liliana Carabali, was named partner at the top Big Law firm in New York- Carabli Gibson LLP. Vance grew up with his role models, and had no doubt he would achieve greatness someday, so when he was faced with new opportunities for growth he faced the challenges head on with a smile.
So there he was, two weeks before the next stepping stone of his long, bright academic career, walking through the glossy hallways of Visions with his fellow future classmates and rivals. Vance appraised the rest of the class as he half-listened to their tour guide and tried to take stock of the lot. There were more kids there that he recognized than he expected, which would work in his favor when he started campaigning for student council. There were some students from Middleton Junior Academy, Vance’s middle school, some kids of minor politicians and peers of his parents that he’d seen once or twice at one dinner party or another, and some friends he already knew were going to be attending Visions with him, Abel Egbo and Dom Summers. As Vance looked around he noticed a kid trailing a bit behind the rest of the group. This one he didn’t recognize. He wasn’t looking around like the rest of the group, instead his head was hanging down and he looked almost somber. He had a blank look on his face and looked almost uninterested in the tour, but Vance could also see how tightly he was gripping the welcome brochure, hands almost shaking. The boy was nervous.
Ah. The charter kid.
He had heard that Visions was doing some sort of contest this year, an outreach program to give one lucky kid the opportunity to go to an actually well funded school. It makes sense that the kid would be nervous here- it was probably nothing like the schools he had grown up in and the program was sure to be rigorous. Vance, feeling sympathetic, turned up his Inglewood charm, slowed his steps and waited till the boy caught up before introducing himself.
“Hey,” he said in a low enough volume to not get caught by the guide. “You feeling okay?”
The boy startled, tripping a bit over his shoelaces, which were untied Vance noted with a questioning look.
“Wha-oh uh, hey?” The boy stuttered out.
Vance laughed a bit at the boy’s clumsiness. “You know your shoelaces are untied right?”
“Oh…yeah,” the kid replied, making no move to fix the issue.
“Oookay,” Vance powered through the so far awkward conversation, “well, uh, my name is Vance Inglewood. We’ll probably be in a few classes together so I thought I’d come say hi.”
The kid looked at him, a bit of apprehension in his eyes, and then nodded, “Cool, yeah. I’m Miles. Miles Morales.” He looked ahead to the rest of the group.
“You excited to start school here?”
“Ha…well..I don’t know if excited is really the word I’d use.”
Vance laughed, “Don’t worry, I’m sure everyone here has first day nerves too. High school’s a whole new ball game you know?”
“Yeah…definitely.”
The conversation was a bit stilted but Vance could handle that. Plus, Miles seemed to be warming up to him a bit at least.
“I’ve been studying up on all things Visions Academy so if you need any help with anything feel free to hit me up, aight?”
There was a pause before Miles responded.
“You didn’t introduce yourself to anyone else.”
Vance was caught off guard by the statement, shocked that the kid- Miles- had even noticed what was going on around him. He had been so sure that the boy wasn’t even listening to the tour guide.
“Um yeah I kind of know some of them already. But you’re a new face so,” Vance pulled out a smile that he had been told on more than one occasion was simultaneously charming and disarming.
Miles seemed neither charmed nor disarmed. In fact, even though Miles had turned his attention back to Vance, he got this strange look on his face- like he was looking through him instead of at him. It was unsettling. Vance’s smile cracked under the calculating gaze of this random charter kid. He felt exposed, like all his inner thoughts and prejudices were seen through in that moment. He was expecting anything to come out of Miles’ mouth at that moment.
So you wanted to say hi to the poor charter kid?
So you wanted to win brownie points with the audience by offering the scholarship kid a chance at friendship with the great Vance Inglewood?
He was already getting his defense ready, heart beginning to pound, mind racing to find the best way out of this conversation- but Miles simply broke his gaze and gave him an awkward smile, as if nothing happened.
“Yeah, thanks. I’ll hit you up if I need anything.”
Miles held out his band, the one not still clutching the welcome brochure, for a friendly fist bump.
Vance caught his smile before it completely slipped and grinned at Miles once more, reaching out to complete the fist bump.
He was saved from any further conversation by Abel calling out to him from up front.
“I’ll catch up with you later,” he tells Miles, turning around and running to catch up with his friends without waiting to hear Miles’ response.
Vance was unsettled, still processing the interaction. For the first time, he had felt like he was on uneven ground in a conversation with a fellow peer; and it was only a brief interaction. It was bizarre. He was bizarre, that Miles Morales.
As it turned out, Vance and Miles didn’t end up having any classes together their freshman year at Visions. And Vance didn’t attempt to speak to Miles Morales again until their sophomore year.
-
“Okay seriously? I need your study guide. Because this shit is just unfair.”
They’re in Vance’s room, the four of them- Vance, Dom, Abel, and Miles- having their weekly study group aka excuse to take advantage of Vance’s lack of a roommate and therefore extra large single room. It usually goes the same way: one hour of actual studying or work gets done, Dom starts looking through his phone and complaining about his girl problems (usually self inflicted), Abel turns on Vance’s PS5 to tune our Dom’s whining, Miles gets distracted by the game for long enough that Abel just hands him the second controller, and Vance takes the opportunity to catch up on the classes he doesn't share with the other three while giving half hearted love advice to his hopeless romantic of a friend.
Today, however, Dom happened to catch a glimpse of some of Miles’ graded work and his eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw the other teen’s latest Molecular Bio grade.
“You got a 99 in Molecular?” Dom had asked incredulously.
All heads in the room turned to face the boy in question whose eyes widened in confusion at the sudden attention.
“Huh? Yeah, why?”
Which led to their current study group activity, studying Miles’ graded papers and notes with increasing levels of astonishment.
“Oh he took that Gifted and Talented title seriously,” Dom said, flipping through his Quantum class notes.
“I didn’t even know Visions offered an Electric Magnetism class,” Abel said, examining a thick textbook he pulled out of Miles’ bag.
“Oh um that’s for personal use actually? Just some light reading.”
Abel looks at Miles, then at the 10 pound book in his hands, “Ain’t shit light about this book Miles,” he laughs, drawing snickers from the rest of the room.
“Okay are we done sifting through my entire bag now? This is a serious invasion of privacy, you know!”
His complaints fell on deaf ears. Miles groaned, and sent a silent prayer to the big man upstairs that he would get normal, sane friends one day.
“Tell the Captain to send the fine in the mail,” Vance said, already three pages into Miles’ Molecular paper, “Hell I'll pay double if you tell me how the hell you convinced Fisher to give you a grade above an 85.”
Dr. Fisher was the Molecular Biology teacher, an ex-professor whose tenure from Cambridge was revoked because of his “dangerously eccentric” research proposals. He was honestly a pretty easy guy to talk to, kinder and more even tempered than most upper level science teachers at Visions. Instead of bottling up his anger and resentment, he seemed to have found a good outlet for it. Unfortunately for his students, that outlet seemed to be their grades.
“Well I can’t say for sure but I think he took a liking to me after we discussed some of his research one day after school. I stayed behind to do a makeup test and he said he’d grade it on the spot, next thing you know we’re discussing the possibilities of ligand fishing on brain cancer patients. His theories aren’t that outlandish when you think through it all clearly, but his experiments with gene knockout were a bit…well let’s just say Cambridge may have made a good decision.”
“...but you can’t say for sure of course,” Dom quotes, voice dripping with sarcasm, “You basically wined and dined him!”
Vance tuts, “And the enigma that is Miles Morales continues to grow.”
“I am not an enigma! Who even started that stupid rumor anyway?” Miles asks, peeved.
“Ganke,” the three boys replied matching shit-eating grins
Miles rolls his eyes. Of course. Ganke had to be the worst “guy in the chair” in the history of all multiverses. Being perceived by his classmates was bad enough. Being perceived in a mysterious light made him even more paranoid than he always was that someone would figure out he was-
“Spiderman?”
Only through years of practice with leading a double life was Miles able to stop his visceral reaction to that incredibly well timed interruption to his train of thought. With a straight face, he turned to Vance who was now looking at something on his phone with interest. After quietly taking a deep breath to calm his heart rate down, he managed to keep his voice light and curious when he asked, “What are you looking at?”
Vance shakes his head, “Colin sent me this video that’s going viral on MeTube right now. Spiderman fighting some giant mutant bugs.”
“Oh, the ones from this morning?”
“Some real Love and Monsters shit. Poor municipal workers are probably still wiping slime off the subway walls right now.”
“I used the subway during free period today and if anything the bug guts just adds character. L train always smells shit either way, now it’s just mildly-radioactive, green, slimy shit.
“Okay, first off, gross . Secondly, Dom, you don’t have a free period!”
“Plant Bio, free period, what’s the difference?”
Abel sighs heavily, “Being your friend is the hardest battle I have ever had to face. Honestly, it’s bad for my heart.”
Dom laughs at his friend's pain, the sadist, and pushes himself up to join Vance on his bed, “So?” He motions to Vance’s phone, “What’s got you so interested in Spidey’s soiree with the local bug gang?”
Vance is quiet for a few long moments. He moves his hands across his phone's screen, obviously rewinding the video a few times before turning the device around for his friends to see. It is indeed a video of Spiderman fighting giant bugs that look like something straight up out of a horror movie. He’s zoomed in on just spiderman and the video plays like that, focusing on Spiderman as he masterfully evades and webs up the pincers and claws of the vicious bug gang. He makes quick work of an aggressive earwig, webbing it in a restrictive cocoon and then swinging it into another large bug, before exploding them using some electric shockwaves from what looks like a…guitar?
“He looks different than our regular Spiderman. His suit’s blue and red like Peter Parker’s and he’s using his powers differently too. It’s not the first time I’ve noticed it but it’s the first time I’ve seen it caught on camera.”
Vance turns the phone back around and goes back to studying the screen with more intensity.
Miles raises his eyebrows in a show of dawning realization, “So you think…”
“I think…this is a different Spiderman.”
Miles looks at Dom and Abel’s faces to gauge the reactions. Dom looks apprehensive but he doesn’t reject it outright. Abel is harder to read, his stoic demeanor harder to see through. He’s studying Vance with the same intensity Vance is studying this video, like he’s piecing together a puzzle in his head.
“How long’ve you had this suspicion, Vance?”
Vance finally tears his eyes away from his phone and locks eyes with Abel. He sighs and turns the video off, “Seriously suspecting? Maybe 3 months. But I noticed it- him- first probably over a year ago. Just had no evidence till now.”
“I wouldn’t call this evidence , per say,” Dom opposes.
Vance groans, “I knew you’d say that. C’mon Dom, I know you love playing devil’s advocate but even you have to admit I’m right about this.”
“Vance, man, the guy wears a mask, climbs skyscrapers, and shoots electricity from his hands. So what if he’s wearing a different suit, it’s the same M.O. from where I’m standing.”
Vance glares and holds up the video once more, “It’s not just that dude look at his frame. This Spiderman even has a different build. He’s lankier, skinnier and even looks taller. You watched that Spiderman v Spot video like sixty times last year, lie right now and tell me you don’t see a difference in how they fight.”
“I’m not saying you’re wrong man but-” Dom cuts himself off with a sigh and runs a hand through his locs.
Miles takes the chance to chime in,“I think what Dom’s saying is even if you’re right, it’s gonna be damn near impossible to prove. And beyond that, in my opinion, if some fool was really out there impersonating Spiderman, I doubt he’d let that shit slide.”
Vance scrunches his nose up in response, something he always does when he knows he’s lost an argument. It’s a childish mannerism that only shows itself among his close friends, which makes it all the more endearing.
Miles smiles and punches Vance’s shoulder good-naturedly, “Look man, the way I see it, if there are really two spidermen out there protecting the city and tryna make this world a better place, that’s something to celebrate! Not investigate.”
Vance side-eyes him, “You’re not even a little bit curious to see if it’s true?”
“Please, Miles is too busy living his own double life to look into someone else's.”
“Dios mío, why does everyone think I have a double life?”
“Oh let’s see, the random absences, the bad excuses every time you’re late to class, the fact that you’re clearly fit but aren’t in any athletic clubs, should I list more?
“Ok the absences can’t be one, I was sick those days. Everyone gets sick.”
Abel squints, “I don’t think I’ve ever even seen you cough, bro.”
“And I haven’t been late since sophomore year!”
“Yes, and we’re glad you finally left your life of delinquency behind, truly.”
“No way your truant ass is calling me a delinquent right now,” Miles says, a deadpan look on his face.
“Yeah and let’s get back to that actually,” Vance turned to Dom, arms crossed, “You know how bad it looks for a member of the student council to be consistently skipping classes?”
“Aye don’t let Miles distract you! He’s clearly trying to distract us from the fact that HE’S SPIDERMAN!”
“HA! Yeah and I’m Sandman.”
“Miles has been tripping over his feet since I met him, if he was spiderman we’d all be in trouble,” Vance laughed, his joke drawing the rest of the boys into a bout of raucous laughter.
If Miles’ laughter is tinged with a touch of fear, that was nobody’s business.
“Alright, as much as I’ve loved hearing y’all disparage my character for the last half hour, I gotta dip.”
“To where, exactly?” Dom challenges, the mirth in his eyes assuring Miles that he’s clear from any actual suspicion.
For now , his spider sense warns.
Miles gives an honest answer, “I promised to meet up with a friend. He wanted some art lessons.” Honest-ish answer.
Abel daps him up, “Aight man, give em hell.”
“I’m keeping this paper by the way,” Vance says, waving Miles’ Molecular Bio paper to him in goodbye.
Miles laughs, “Knock yourself out, man.”
They exchange a few more jokes as Miles gathers his belongings until finally he exits the room, letting out a huge sigh of relief in the process.
Now that was a close fucking call.
-
A few minutes after the door shuts, Dom is thinking quietly to himself. He’s a jokester, he’s known to fool around here and there, but he wasn’t completely kidding when he mentioned Miles and his “double life”. Not that he thinks there is anything sinister going on in Miles’ life, but if there’s one thing he’s learned about Miles since they became friends, it's that the guy can keep a secret.
Now does that mean Miles can lie? No. He sucks ass at it. But he can and does full on tapdance around the truth.
And Dom gets it. Everyone’s entitled to their secrets and such. But it’s been almost two years now and Miles is always flitting off to God knows where in the middle of every kickback, party, or even a regular study session. So sue him, Dom’s curious! And yes, he knows, curiosity killed the cat…Dom eyes his two best friends.
But surely it can’t kill three, right?
“Hey, do you two ever wonder where Miles is always going off to? Who he meets up with?”
“You’re about to suggest something outrageous and I want no part of it,” Abel moves to put the gaming headphones back on and continue playing.
“No, no seriously. Think about it. We all became friends with him around the same time right? But who here can say that he’s ever really opened up to them?”
As expected, no one had a rebuttal.
“What are you planning then?” Vance said, sitting up fully to turn his full attention towards the Dom, “Another interrogation? Because that probably won’t go over too well.” And even though he’s got his usual haughty tone, Dom can tell he’s got him intrigued. Hook, line, and sinker.
Dom toys with his phone a bit, searching for one app in particular while he responds, “No no, nothing so crass.” He smirks as he loads the app up before sharing a photo to the other too.
They get the notification on their phones simultaneously. Vance opens it and huffs out an amused breath, “How in the hell…” he trails off.
“A truant with sticky fingers,” Abel tsks, but he wears a small smirk as well.
On their phones is a screenshot of the Find My Friends app, showing a small blue dot labeled “Miles M. location” on a map.
Dom grins.
“Who’s trynna go to an art lesson?”